The failed litter(s). The rest of the story
As a follow up to the tragic tale of our failed litter, I think this will be the last I write of it. The birth of Iris' beautiful litter is a weight off my shoulders and good news all around.
We believe we were struck by a herpes virus. Most folks think of the sexually transmitted disease in humans, but there are a lot of other viruses in the same class. The herpes virus that gives you a cold sore, I'm told, will kill a chimpanzee. Different types of the virus are transmitted in different ways.
The symptoms we had are consistent with the symptoms for one specific canine herpes virus. We haven't found any other disease that has the same symptoms. That is a diagnosis. We may never be certain as the only test we have found so far is part of an expensive "panel" of tests. It also requires an invasive procedure to capture a swab of the lungs. We aren't going to run that. If we find a simple blood test for the antibody and it costs under $50, I'm sure we will likely run it. (The results of which will be the last word.)
We believe we had three girls infected with the virus and we lost three litters of pups. Two were miscarriages that "absorbed" back into the girls. Dove's basically still born litter was the third.
The good news is this virus is not contagious once the dog beats it. The girls will have immunity from it now that their bodies know how to deal with it. Iris' litter is evidence that we won't have trouble with it ever again.
I really want to thank everyone for their support. I hope other breeders and potential breeders are reading and learn something from our loss. The longer I blog, the more I realize I don't wish to discourage breeding, but I hope to encourage good and thoughtful breeding. I also hope that pet owners see the risks and rewards that breeders go through.
The reason I continue even in the face of tragedy is I love breeding dogs. I enjoy almost every part of it, from selecting a sire to sending pups home with their hand selected owners. Sure some parts are sad, and you meet a lot of annoying people, but thanks to the pups, I have life long friendships with folks I would have never met otherwise. There is a lot of satisfaction in breeding pups that turn out how you planned too. If you are lucky, you will see some of them grow up.
We believe we were struck by a herpes virus. Most folks think of the sexually transmitted disease in humans, but there are a lot of other viruses in the same class. The herpes virus that gives you a cold sore, I'm told, will kill a chimpanzee. Different types of the virus are transmitted in different ways.
The symptoms we had are consistent with the symptoms for one specific canine herpes virus. We haven't found any other disease that has the same symptoms. That is a diagnosis. We may never be certain as the only test we have found so far is part of an expensive "panel" of tests. It also requires an invasive procedure to capture a swab of the lungs. We aren't going to run that. If we find a simple blood test for the antibody and it costs under $50, I'm sure we will likely run it. (The results of which will be the last word.)
We believe we had three girls infected with the virus and we lost three litters of pups. Two were miscarriages that "absorbed" back into the girls. Dove's basically still born litter was the third.
The good news is this virus is not contagious once the dog beats it. The girls will have immunity from it now that their bodies know how to deal with it. Iris' litter is evidence that we won't have trouble with it ever again.
I really want to thank everyone for their support. I hope other breeders and potential breeders are reading and learn something from our loss. The longer I blog, the more I realize I don't wish to discourage breeding, but I hope to encourage good and thoughtful breeding. I also hope that pet owners see the risks and rewards that breeders go through.
The reason I continue even in the face of tragedy is I love breeding dogs. I enjoy almost every part of it, from selecting a sire to sending pups home with their hand selected owners. Sure some parts are sad, and you meet a lot of annoying people, but thanks to the pups, I have life long friendships with folks I would have never met otherwise. There is a lot of satisfaction in breeding pups that turn out how you planned too. If you are lucky, you will see some of them grow up.
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